The Portland State cross country teams begin their 2012 season this month at the John Frank Memorial Invitational, to be held in Corvallis, Oregon. The event will feature teams from PSU, Oregon State University, University of Oregon and University of Portland, among others.
Following a 2-2 draw after 90 minutes, the Portland Timbers lost 5-4 to Aston Villa on penalty kicks in an international friendly exhibition game at Jeld-Wen Field July 24.
In a preseason poll, coaches and media picked Portland State’s football team to finish fourth in the 2012–13 Big Sky Conference. Last season the Vikings finished third in the conference with a 7-5 overall record (5-3 in conference).
The Portland State women’s soccer team looks forward to yet another successful season after announcing the 2012 schedule. The team will kick off its campaign with an exhibition game against Fraser Valley at Hillsboro Stadium Aug. 11.
The Portland division of the Underdog Sports Leagues is hosting a coed dodgeball league at Jefferson High School in North Portland every Wednesday this summer. The league began July 11 and will continue until mid-August.
The Timbers continued their winless away game streak when they lost 3-0 to Real Salt Lake in Sandy, Utah on Saturday, despite the return of suspended defender Hanyer Mosquera.
Portland State’s intramural leagues are back in action during summer term as PSU hosts a five-versus-five indoor soccer league starting July 11. The games will be held Wednesdays from 4 to 8 p.m. on the third floor of the Academic and Student Rec Center.
Portland State women’s golf has added University of Washington transfer A Ram Choi to its roster in an attempt to reclaim the Big Sky Championship in the 2012–13 season.
Connor Kavanaugh was the 2011 Most Valuable Player in the 2011 Vikings football season and will not return this fall.
“Our offense is like a Ferrari,” team head coach Nigel Burton said in a statement. “It’s fast, it’s the best built and it’s designed to win races. We will give you the tools to run the Ferrari, but if you don’t know how to use those tools, you might wrap it around a tree. So, we need to see who can best use those tools before we hand over the keys.”
Despite playing only five games in 2011, Cory McCaffrey was selected to the first team All-Big Sky Conference in a postseason vote by the league coaches. McCaffrey led the nation in rushing and scoring before his Achilles injury in mid-October. He is the most successful running back in Oregon history.
If you happened to drive by Ross Island on May 19, you may have seen something interesting: From a distance, it looked like dozens of men and women stood on the Willamette River, gliding forward; but as you got closer you saw they were vigorously rowing while standing on surfboards. The 2012 Ross Island Stand Up Paddle Series was underway, and it’s not over yet.